What we’ve been dealt
by Hooty-McBoon
Summary: Ryan is given 2 days off after civilians are killed while he’s on a case and things go mad, Calleigh is the only one who can help. They don’t know who to trust as conspiracies are uncoverd. [CaRWash & hinted Cake]
1. Chapter 1: Out Of Synch

Ryan/Calleigh/Jake I love CaRWash, but I'm coming round to the idea of Cake too. You'll just have to wait and see where this fic goes. AU 'cause I haven't seen all of season 5 and I don't want Ryan to stop being a CSI. Ok, I live in London so if my American-isms are wrong that's why.

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:Miami, I wish I did. Don't sue, this is just the crazy ideas in my head.

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**What we've been dealt**

**Chapter 1: Out of Synch**

Steps had to be taken, lives had been lost and he was at fault. He knew that a certain blonde ballistics expert would be less than impressed with his recent behaviour. Time off. It had been, a good, a great idea when Horatio had first suggested it, but within two days of his holiday, Ryan was bored, he knew that H had good reason to take him off active duty, to give him a 'rest' but he wanted to prove that accidents could be fixed. Their faces were surely punishment enough. He winced as he remembered. "I should be at work." He muttered, he ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the sofa sighing deeply to himself. A knock on his front door pulled him from a deep reverie and he hauled himself to his feet to go answer it; "What are you doing here?" he asked as he pulled the door open.

The female on the other side smiled; "Is that any way to greet a guest?" she asked him, her southern accent mocking him almost as much as her quirked eyebrow was.

He grinned; "Cal." A nickname that he had heard Eric use; "You have no idea how good it is to see you." He said his tone a little over-zealous.

"Are you alright?" she asked, she was now worried about him. He smiled, glad to see that she cared.

He nodded; "I'm fine really," he then realised that they were still standing in his doorway; "how rude of me…do come in." his invitation was met with a bright smile as she stepped through the door. She walked on through the hall and into the kitchen of his small condo; he smiled as he noticed how at home she seemed.

"Horatio told me to come." She told him, so she hadn't come of her own accord, Ryan felt himself deflate slightly he had been hoping; "We've got a new case, triple homicide, you're needed Ryan." She told him calmly.

"He couldn't call me?" Ryan asked, knowing there had to be a catch, Calleigh smiled at him, he wasn't one to be fooled.

She sighed and looked at her shoes; "Someone…we think," she took another breath leaving Ryan on tenterhooks; "it's complicated, we have a situation…Natalia is in the hospital." Ryan felt his lungs constrict into a gasp, he wanted to speak but his voice wouldn't let him and he could tell that Calleigh was not yet done with him; "H thought it best to keep you in the loop, but orders came in from above, his hands are tied…" she smiled at him.

"…but yours aren't?" he finished her sentence.

She nodded; "Jake Berkeley is the only person other than Horatio whose privy to what I'm actually doing. Ryan, this is strictly under the wire, we need you, but no-one need know what you're doing, understood?" the severity of her voice caused him to nod dumbly. He didn't know what to say to her.

His mouth opened, he wanted to say something, anything; "Uh…is Natalia ok?" he asked concern evident in his voice, Calleigh smiled.

"She's fine, wants to get back to work as soon as possible," she licked her lips and pulled out a file from her bag; "I _didn't_ give this to you, do you understand?" her question was answered with a curt nod as he took the file from her hands; "That's all you need to know, I'll meet you by 7th and 4th tomorrow, at 10am Jake and I need to debrief you. Tell you _everything_." There was a glint in her eye that led him to believe that she wanted to say more but couldn't. What was it that happened in the two days he'd been away? It was serious there was no doubt about that.

He took a step towards her; "Is…is everything ok?" he asked her, his hand had taken her arm, her eyes locked with his and he knew that everything was decidedly _not_ ok; "Talk to me Cal." He was begging her now. She closed her eyes, she knew that he was one of the few people she couldn't say no to, and the look he was giving her right now was breaking her heart.

"Tomorrow." Was her brisk reply. She then walked away from him and out of his condo, the door closed firmly behind her. Ryan had never felt more out of it. What on earth was going on? Why couldn't she tell him? Was someone in danger? Was she in danger? His stomach lurched at the thought. He'd find out tomorrow, he _had_ to find out tomorrow. He placed the file the countertop in his kitchen, he pulled out three pieces of paper and a photograph, and the first piece of paper was a psychologist's case file;

**Wendy Townsend D/O/B 15/03/87**, notes followed describing a severely disturbed woman, Ryan ran a hand through his hair as he moved to the next piece of paper, it was Eric's crime scene notes, apparently Wendy Townsend was dead, and the picture that had come with the file was of her corpse, Ryan swallowed back some bile as he looked at the picture. He picked up the third piece of paper, it was the account of the attack that put Natalia in the hospital. A drug dealer had stabbed her. That was all he'd found out from the file. He scratched his cheek absentmindedly, how was he supposed to find anything out from the file Calleigh had given him? It was almost empty. He felt lost, and frustrated at the same time. Calleigh had wanted to tell him so much more, what held her back?

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"You're putting your own life in danger by doing this Cal." Detective Berkeley's voice was reprimanding, but Calleigh knew it had to be done, she also knew that he was only saying it because he cared.

"Like you wouldn't do the same in my position." She said with a wry smile, her team was in danger, her life was already in danger, by warning Ryan she was giving him a fighting chance.

Jake shook his head, he knew that she was right but he wasn't about to admit it; "You care about him?" he asked.

Calleigh smirked; "You sound jealous." She told him, avoiding his question. She made herself busy; there was plenty to do before they met up with Ryan tomorrow. She picked up some samples and handed them to Jake; "Take them to trace for me, I have bullets to analyse." He took the sample from her and sighed knowing that this wasn't over but that Calleigh had certainly won round one.

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This is my second CSI:Miami fic, but I'm just getting into the swing of things still, I know it's short but bear with me. Review please, no flames thank you. 


	2. Chapter 2: Tomorrow

**Second Chapter yay. Elements of Cake, also CaRWash. AU, blah blah.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: Miami. I do own; Wendy Townsend, Mr. L. Wane and 'Mr Shrew'**

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**Chapter 2: Tomorrow**

The night had been a slow one and Ryan knew that the morning couldn't come soon enough. He _had_ to see Calleigh, had to get all of the information from her. It was killing him to know that something had happened that had endangered his fellow CSIs and there was nothing he could do about it. He was glad that Calleigh had told him, he needed to be in the loop. The clock on his bedside table read 07:15, the red numbers glared at him, there was so much time between now and their meeting, it would drive him crazy sitting and waiting. He had to do something. He got out of bed and had a cold shower, it was the best thing to clear his head in times of crisis, and this it seemed was a crisis. When emerging from the shower he looked at the clock once more; 07:35, time it seemed was mocking him; "This is going to drive me mad." He muttered. He had to get dressed, had to get out of the house. Had to do _something_.

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"You're sure he won't do anything stupid?" Jake asked for what felt like the 7th time that day. Calleigh rolled her eyes and didn't give him and answer it really wasn't needed again. They had arrived at work at 7:30am, and Jake was already getting under Calleigh's skin.

"Jake, leave it will you." She muttered picking up some files. Jake was giving her a look and she knew it meant that he had more to say; "We have a job to do, you need to go talk to H." she told him. It was quite clear who was in charge of this operation. Jake watched her retreating form before walking over to Horatio.

"Detective Berkeley." Horatio's formal tone contradicted the smile in his eyes; "You have something to report no doubt." He said looking around them briefly.

Jake nodded; "Cal and I are seeing Wolfe in about two hours, we will be informing him of the current situation…" Jake paused and looked at his shoes.

"Detective Berkeley," that same formal tone; "I know that this is all making you very uncomfortable, but you and I both know that it's for the best." Horatio spoke truthfully and there was no room for argument in his tone of voice.

"Yes sir." Was Jake's reply as he moved away, things were moving forwards well.

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09:30, the red numbers still taunted him, it would take him about half an hour to drive to their meeting spot, if the traffic was bad and if he drove at 10mph all the way. He could walk. Out of the question. He sighed and picked up the file that Calleigh had given him the day before, he noticed a piece of paper that he hadn't read last night, there was an address on it, nothing more, just an address. He read it once, twice, three times over before it finally sunk in, hew knew this address, it was Calleigh's, why would her address be in the case file of this triple homicide? Things were getting even more confusing, he had more questions to ask, he hoped that she knew the answers. The clock now read 09:45, he could go now, this waiting game was killing him. He arrived with 5 minuets to spare, pulled up on the side of the street and noticed a small restaurant across the road. There was about 4 parking spaces out the front of it, and Ryan decided that it would be sensible for him to get some food before meeting with Calleigh and Jake. He was sure to need it. In the short amount of time that he had had since Calleigh had told him that something was going on Ryan had found his brain going into overdrive, he was trying to think of what it could be. Some of the scenarios were much worse than others, and he just ended up getting more agitated.

"Can I get you anything love?" a middle aged woman with an apron and notebook in hand smiled kindly at him.

He looked at her for a few seconds before answering; "Uh…coffee please." The palms of his hands felt moist and slightly sticking. He was more worried than he cared to admit. It was then that two figures entered, the sight of them alone made his heart soar; "Cal, Jake." He waved them over.

"You're early." Calleigh said taking a seat opposite him.

He smiled; "I couldn't just sit at home, it was driving me crazy." Jake, who had sat down next to Calleigh snorted slightly. Ryan wasn't going to beat about the bush; "I read the file, all of it." He stated locking eyes with Calleigh.

"There's more to the case than what you've read Wolfe." Jake said drawing Ryan's attention away from Calleigh; "There were things we couldn't print, couldn't have it falling into the wrong person's hands, you understand?" his voice was full of authority.

Ryan nodded, his heart was pumping, this was important; "I need to know what's going on." He insisted.

It was Calleigh's turn to nod; "All in due course," Ryan's eyes met with hers again, he saw genuine fear there. Calleigh was not afraid of much, this was more than serious; "right," Calleigh sighed loudly; "threats are being made to this man," Calleigh paused and placed a file in front of Ryan; "he's a high ranking FBI agent, apparently he's corrupt…" Calleigh let her words hang in the air for a moment before Jake placed another file on table.

"The man making the threats is a convicted felon, we don't know if he can be trusted…the man apparently killed Wendy Townsend and two others. The triple homicide that began this investigation, ever since Natalia was attacked those higher up are trying to lock us out. They clearly know that these threats are not unfounded." Jake pushed the file across the table and watched at Ryan opened it and read.The first word he saw was written in bold across the top of the sheet, he glanced at Jake, and then at Calleigh who nodded at him, he read on;

**CLASSIFIED**

**This information is for Mr. L. Wane, his eyes only may read it, I have uncovered some vital information regarding his daughter.** It went on, details of gruesome murders and sexual offences that made Ryan shudder. He wondered what Mr. Wane's daughter had to do with it, all the offences that were listed were committed by men. **I am prepared to let the FBI know all of this and more, there is of course one way that you can keep this hidden.** So it had turned to blackmail. Ryan sighed and reached the end of the document. The signature was hard to make out.

"Does that say Mr. Shrew?" Ryan finally asked, Calleigh nodded.

"Yes, we think it's a fake name, it would be more than likely, do you see now why we need your help? This isn't an ordinary case, sure we were assigned the homicide but what we've uncovered, this is…" she paused and Ryan nodded knowing there was no way to describe it, it was unlike anything they had had to deal with before.

"So Mr. Wane is our corrupt FBI agent…" Jake nodded; "Who is his daughter?" the question was straight to the point.

"We don't know." Calleigh replied; "Our records show he never got married, his team didn't know he had a child. We think that he thought she was dead. It would explain a couple of things." Ryan nodded slowly, he let the information sink in, there were so many questions left unasked, so much that he desperately needed to know. What had Calleigh's address been doing in that first file? Who was the elusive daughter that a top FBI agent thought was dead? Who had committed those heinous crimes described in the most recent file? Had it been Mr. Wane? He was respected and trusted, what would happen if the three people gathered around the table in that small diner, uncovered the conspiracies that now riddled their legal system. Corrupt agents and lies abound. Apparently Calleigh, Ryan and Jake were going to have to find out the answers to all of these questions, Horatio would of course try and give them all the support that they needed, but this task was not going to be an easy one to execute.

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A/N: So a three man team? How will Ryan and Jake get along, I sense trouble ahead, don't you? Review please. No flames thank you. 


	3. Chapter 3: Questions and Trouble

The third chapter, Eric gets into a spot of bother and Ryan has some unanswered questions for Calleigh; CaRWash here.

**Chapter 3: Questions and Trouble**

Ryan had wanted to ask Calleigh why her address had been there, he really had wanted to, but, he had chickened out. He didn't have the guts to ask her. There were a lot of things that he didn't have the guts to ask her. He ran an uneasy hand through his hair, he could see that whatever was going on back at the crime lab was bigger that him, or Calleigh or Jake or even Horatio, them getting involved might not be a good thing. He had to trust that Calleigh knew what she was doing. Without that trust he had nothing. There were a lot of things about this case that he did not understand, things that had yet to be explained. His phone buzzed in his pocket causing him to jump slightly before he retrieved it, he looked at the caller ID and answered it; "Eric?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Ryan, hi." Eric's voice sounded distant.

"Are you ok?" Ryan asked suddenly worried, Eric sounded almost scared.

There was a long pause; "Do you know?" he asked avoiding Ryan's question.

Ryan's eyes grew wide, he wasn't sure what Eric was asking, but he remembered what Calleigh had said; 'Do not discuss this with anyone, this must remain between us. Do you understand.' He decided to play dumb; "What is there to know? You are aware that I am on leave right?" Ryan asked playing his part perfectly. He heard Eric cough loudly, he was saying something to someone in the room which he was in; "Eric? Are you ok?" Ryan asked clearly concerned for his colleague. There was a loud bang on the other end of the phone and the line went dead. Ryan looked at the phone in his hands, what was going on?

He stared at his phone for a minute or so more before deciding on a plan of action, he dialled Calleigh's number, he waited as it rang, once, twice on the third ring it was picked up; "Hello?"

"Calleigh!" Ryan was frantic.

"Ryan? What's wrong? Has something happened?" she asked worried for him.

He took a deep breath; "I am fine, but," he paused and closed his eyes; "I just received a call from Eric, he sounded panicked, I think he is in trouble Cal." He told her, he heard her breath hitch in her throat; "What should I do?" he asked her.

"Nothing, there is nothing you can do. Eric…apparently Eric has gotten himself into trouble, when all of this is resolved we will find him," she paused unsure of herself; "I…I…know, this is hard Ryan, but it is necessary…" she trailed off, Ryan could tell that she was struggling to hold her emotions in.

"Calleigh, are you ok?" he asked now clearly worried about her, he had began pacing back and forth, nerves coursing through him.

She paused and he could tell that she was crying; "I am fine, look, I'm coming over we need to talk," she paused- they were talking- "face to face." She finished. He found himself nodding, she was right, there was a lot they needed to discus, questions that required answers, and there was a lot he needed to say to her.

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Calleigh grabbed her bag and car keys, Horatio was standing in the doorway; "Emergency?" he asked, sun glasses in hand. She looked at him and nodded.

"Ryan called, I…" she paused and looked into H's kind blue eyes, "…Eric is in trouble." She confided in him.

H nodded; "Mr. Delko's absence had been noted. You have to go then?" he asked with raised eyebrows, she nodded and hurried past him; "Be careful." He called after her. She did not need telling twice. She would certainly take great care, with the whole team now somehow involved Calleigh knew that trust was limited. She drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to Ryan's condo. He had clearly been looking out for her, as the moment she stepped from her Hummer he was out on the front lawn waiting to meet her.

"Ryan?" she asked looking him up and down.

"You know all of this stress really can't be good for my heart." He told her, she smiled sadly at him. She had no words of comfort to give him. As far as she could see this wasn't about to come to an easy conclusion.

"Other than an uneasy heart, how are you holding up?" she asked as he led her inside.

"Before Eric's call I was fine, well as fine as can be expected. But now…" he paused and looked up at her; "…this is hard, there is practically no one we can trust, except each other, we're all in danger aren't we Cal?" he asked her, he suddenly sounded a lot younger than he was, Calleigh felt her heart jolt as she looked into his eyes, she took a step towards him and drew him into her arms, she hugged him tightly.

"We are, but we have each other as you said." She whispered in his ear. She made no move to pull away from him, standing with her arms around him like this felt so natural, his arms had snaked around her and were resting on her hips. If only she knew what this did to him, if only she knew how his heart was racing just because she was close to him. Almost as if Calleigh realised what she was actually doing she pulled away, she didn't miss the look of hurt in Ryan's eyes; "We, uh, need to talk about Eric," she paused and waited for Ryan to pull himself together.

"And other things besides." Ryan muttered looking into Calleigh's eyes. She nodded, she didn't know what it was he wanted to say, but she could tell that it was important to him. A moments pause and Ryan looked away from Calleigh almost as if he couldn't bare to keep her gaze any longer.

"What did he say when he called?" Calleigh asked sitting on Ryan's couch, he took a deep breath and followed suit as he then recited the conversation word for word. When he was finished Calleigh was looking down at her hands that were placed in her lap.

"This is getting out of control Cal, there are things that you need to tell me, things I _need_ to know. Surely you must have realised this by now." He begged her. She nodded slowly looking up into his eyes, he looked frightened, it was understandable.

"They," she paused and sighed; "men from the top, are after us." She whispered as if that explained everything; "H discovered something, a conspiracy, a plot to kill so many people, and well, these men can't have anyone knowing about this plot…we're in more danger than you understand Ryan." Her voice had slowly got smaller and smaller; "There are things about this that I don't know and I'm not sure that I want to…but it's quite clear that either we won't get out of this alive or…they won't." Ryan nodded in understanding.

"Your name. Your address." He whispered, he watched as she closed her eyes, he moved closer to her on the couch taking one of her hands in his; "You can tell me Cal, please, you can trust me."

She smiled, her eyes remain closed; "They know that I know. We got Cooper to hack into their systems and my name and address popped up, this is huge Ry." She told him, shortening his name affectionately. She was glad that she had told him, it had been hard seeing the way he was struggling to understand before.

"Aren't you going to have protection?" he asked, his concern was touching, be he should have known better.

"It's not that I don't want it I assure you, but we don't know who we can trust anymore, Jake still doesn't trust you." She muttered the last part under her breath but Ryan still heard her.

'_For different reasons I'm sure.'_ He thought to himself unable to hide a smirk; "Cal, I want to protect you." He whispered the hand of hers that she was holding gripped his more tightly, she knew that he meant every word.

"I'll have to hold you to that." She said with a smile. He trusted her, and she him but other people were a different matter, Ryan knew that he would have to keep so much to himself but how were they going to solve this crime? Take down whoever it was who wanted to kill them? This would be harder than any case he'd been on before. Unfortunately for Ryan and Calleigh however with Eric down and in grave danger they didn't have a lot of time to save him, racing against a ticking clock can cause people to make fatal mistakes.

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A/N: Sorry that this took so very long, college work makes me slow. Ahh, I love cliffhangers, will they get to Eric in time? That my friends is the question. Well anyway, I love reviews, they make me write faster. No Flames please. 


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